Following the breakup of Emily Maynard and Brad Womack, the former “Bachelor” was reported as saying he “dodged a bullet” by ending his relationship with Emily, ABC’s latest “Bachelorette.”

Despite the sting of the seemingly caustic remark, Emily said she wants to believe her ex-fiance didn’t intend to insult her.

“At first, my feelings were really hurt, because we left everything very civil and I’ve never said a bad word about him,” Emily told Billy Bush and Kit Hoover on Wednesday’s Access Hollywood Live. “But, knowing Brad, he didn’t mean it that way.

“That’s what I want to say,” she added.

Now happily single and searching for love as “The Bachelorette,” the North Carolina native told Billy and Kit she’s not going to let her conservative, traditional persona get in the way of kissing a few frogs to find her prince.

“I am pretty conservative, but I told myself coming into this I was only going to be the ‘The Bachelorette’ once in my life,” she said. “So, if you can’t make out with a bunch of guys when you’re ‘The Bachelorette,’ when can you?”

But stolen lip-locks may be all her would-be suitors earn, as the 26-year-old single mom hopes her season of “The Bachelorette” will focus more on romance versus sex.

“I just wanted it to be a different season of ‘The Bachelorette,’” she said. “I wanted it to be like romance and I don’t know, just more of a real life love instead of all this like, drama and just sex and all that. I wanted it to be sweeter.”